The Red and the Black

Billy Elliot

September 2000 •English

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

Matewan

August 1987 •English

Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan's vested interests so that justice and workers' rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.

The Miner's Son

November 2024 •English

Set against the backdrop of the miner's strikes in 1984, a rock band strive for success during turbulent times.

The Istrian Way

September 1985 •

An insight into multi-layered relations between natives and newcomers in the town of Pula following WWII and departure of Angloamerican forces.

Faith

February 2005 •English

A gripping story of love, deceit, betrayal and survival set against the backdrop of the Miners' Strike of 1984-85. Michelle is married to Gary, a young miner who goes on strike as soon as the dispute between the Thatcher government and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) begins. Meanwhile, her sister Linda's husband Paul is a local policeman. Paul becomes more and more voluble in his opposition to the strike, while Linda looks around her and witnesses the women of her community suddenly find a voice and independence. The scene is set for political and personal conflicts which would change their lives forever.

Pride

September 2014 •English

In 1984, a group of LGBT activists decide to raise money to support the National Union of Mineworkers during their lengthy strike. There is only one problem: the Union seems embarrassed to receive their support.

Lidé pod zemí

February 1973 •Czech

"They Didn't Starve Us Out": Industrial Cape Breton in the 1920s

October 1991 •English

For 200 years, coal mining had been a way of life in Cape Breton. By 1920 things were looking up: miners were unionized and paid decent wages. Then the British Empire Steel Corporation arrived and bought every single steel and coal company in Nova Scotia. BESCO cut wages by a third, setting off a bitter labour dispute. The miners settled in for a long strike. Finally, in 1925, the military ended the unrest with brute force. But the miners, in one sense, had won. They broke up the monopoly and provided an example to workers across the country.

Labin Republic

March 2021 •Croatian

100th Anniversary overview of the Labin Republic - the world's first anti-fascist uprising.

Harlan County U.S.A.

January 1977 •English

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.

Pitfall

July 1962 •Japanese

A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit of bad luck, he joins the town's population of lost souls.

Strike! The Women Who Fought Back

March 2024 •English

In their own words, this is the story of six women from the South Wales valleys and how they helped sustain the bitter year-long miners' strike, changing their lives forever.

The Mole

August 2011 •Polish

Pawel, a Polish man in his early 30s, makes a living with his father Zygmunt importing second-hand clothing from the North of France to Southern Poland. On his way back from one of regular "business trips", Pawel is shocked to discover his father's picture on the cover of a Polish tabloid newspaper. The headline "traitor" is written next to his name. Zygmunt is a genuine hero of the struggle against totalitarianism and a recognized member of the "Solidarnosc" labor movement of the 80s. But now, Zygmunt is suddenly accused by the paper of having acted as a secret informer called THE MOLE by the communist regime.

Ivo, the Monk

April 1951 •

A young man's fight between love and the monastic discipline.

Out of Darkness: The Mine Workers' Story

January 1990 •English

OUT OF DARKNESS: THE MINE WORKERS' STORY is a documentary by Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple (HARLAN COUNTY, USA). Historical film footage and photographs are integrated with first-hand accounts of UMWA history and of the Pittston strike of 1989-90.

Gold Struck

January 1974 •English

Everyone chickened out delivering bags of gold to Virginia City because to get there, you have to get past the Bad Land. Hoot decides to deliver it himself to the city. Hoot managed to get past the Bad Lands to a ghost town so Hoot decides to spend the night in the hotel, where a mischievous vampire trying to get the hands on the gold.

Iron Ladies

October 2025 •English

A celebration of the iron willed women who maintained the 1984/85 Miners' Strike as they fought for the future of their communities.

Borinage

June 1934 •French

Documentary about a miner's strike in Borinage.

Istria

December 1945 •

Yugoslav Partisan propaganda film about the liberation of Istria at the end of the World War II.

The Truth About Pula

July 1947 •

Yugoslav Partisan propaganda film about the post-World War II events in Pula.